This is the reality of the SEC staying with an eight-game schedule -- the merits of which I've argued strengthen the league's positioning until the College Football Playoff calls its bluff. But some years teams will have trouble getting good games. In this case, Alabama was hurt by the SEC's recent months-long scheduling moratorium as it figured out its future conference format.

Can somebody help Battle out and play Alabama? Sounds like the Tide would even take a home-and-home at this point, but Battle said he’s not sure that’s feasible because “everybody’s scheduled for ’15.”

Alabama has Wisconsin and Louisiana-Monroe on the non-conference schedule, and though Battle doesn’t remember the third game offhand, Alabama is expected to play an FCS opponent in mid-November, according to a source.

That means Battle probably can’t schedule another FCS for strength-of-schedule purposes, though he sounds desperate enough to do just that.

Or what about BYU, whose independence creates scheduling issues in the College Football Playoff era?

“We’ve called everybody we know,” Battle responded.

Battle wants to get this done quickly because the longer Alabama waits, “the more expensive it gets,” he said.